ToD 'Grilled'

Grilled

Yoan "ToD" Merlo is the star of the 25th episode of my 'Grilled' interview series. The Frenchman is a legend of WarCraft III, with over 130,000 USD in prize winnings in that game.

How highly does ToD rate Zacard in terms of his place in WC3 history? What are his thoughts on being the nemesis of Moon in 2007? Why does he say in WC3 someone could do the same strategy for years and still be a top player? How competitive would WC3 have been if the KeSPA BW players had been involved? What is the problem ToD sees holding back the foreign scene in terms of coaching? Is motivation an issue for ToD at this point in his career?

Time line of topics:

00:09 intro

00:16 How good was ToD in WC3 prior to his breakout in 2006?

02:19 MaDFroG and Zacard blocking ToD's path early in his career.

05:25 Winning WEG Masters in 2006, beating Grubby in the final. Having a decent record vs. Grubby across his entire career.

07:23 People always listing Grubby and Moon ahead of Sky as the best players of all time, what are his thoughts on where Sky ranks?

09:38 Moon dominating 2007, but ToD beating him in some notable moments during that year. How did he match-up against him?

12:45 Moon capturing one of ToD's workers, building a whole human army and beating him with it.

14:36 His surprising rivalry with HoT.

17:12 ToD's post-2008 WC3 career, had he tapped out in terms of motivation?

18:52 How much luck was involved in WC3 matches, with variable unit damage and random item drops?

23:03 WC3 being mainly micro.

24:14 Wondering how well the Korean BW players would have done in WC3, had BW not continued on as the main game over there.

26:53 Why Lyn, Grubby, Moon and him haven't been able to have comparable success in SC2, could they if they went full-time?

29:22 Since Grubby was so good in WC3, does he lack anything in particular in SC2 that is holding him back?

31:29 My theory that foreigners wouldn't want to be as good as Koreans, even if they could, due to the level of sacrifice required.

33:57 The impact of coaches in SC2.

37:06 Being an old progamer trying to return to the top, compared to older athletes who know how to win but don't have the athletic talent anymore.

41:33 The cost of improving when you've been used to winning or getting deep in the past.

44:24 Does seeing guys like SaSe, NightEnD, NaNiwa and Stephano have success in SC2, does it make ToD feel as though he still could do it, since he was better than them in WC3?